


Hide and Seek

by Space_Hawk



Series: Inktober 2020 [26]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, And they're both living happily together in the Fire Nation with baby Izumi, Both Sokka and Zuko are just so good with kids, Family Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Hide and Seek, I just needed some fluff in my life okay?, M/M, Zuko makes an adorable dad, and so does Sokka, zukka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:08:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27219913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space_Hawk/pseuds/Space_Hawk
Summary: Baby Izumi spends some quality time with her dads.Inktober Day 26: Hide
Relationships: Izumi & Sokka (Avatar), Izumi & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Inktober 2020 [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950592
Comments: 4
Kudos: 106





	Hide and Seek

“7...8...9...10! Ready or not, here I come,” Zuko announced loudly to the seemingly empty room, removing his hands from his eyes. “Hmmm, I wonder where Izumi is?”

He heard giggles coming from a small lump behind the curtains, so obviously Zuko started looking for her on the opposite side of the room.

“Maybe she’s hiding under the bed?” He narrated his actions as he crouched down to check under the bed. Finding nothing but a couple dust balls, he stood back up. 

“Hmm, I guess not..but maybe she’s in the closet!” Zuko dramatically whipped open the door to the closet on the last word, earning more giggles from the girl behind the curtains.

“Or maybe not. I wonder where she could be?” he pondered aloud, exaggerating his thinking as much as possible. Though quickly running out of places to “search” for his daughter, he didn’t want to “find” her just yet. 

Zuko was just about to go look under the rug when Sokka walked into the room.

“Hey babe,” he said, depositing an armload of papers onto the desk.

“Hey Sokka,” Zuko replied, discreetly nodding his head towards the still giggling lump behind the curtains. “It seems like I’ve lost Izumi, do you want to help me find her?”

“Well, isn’t she-ohhh.” Sokka’s eyes widened in realization. “Of course I’ll help you find her! She must be around here somewhere.”

Together they continued searching the room, dramatically narrating their actions as they did so, to the continued loudening of giggles from behind the curtain.

At last, having thoroughly exhausted all possible hiding places in the room, they approached the curtain.

“Hmmm, I wonder if she’s hiding behind here?” Sokka asked to no one in particular.

“Hmmm, I wonder,” Zuko echoed, pulling open the curtain to find their chubby-cheeked daughter still trying to stifle her laughter.

“We found you!” Both him and Sokka exclaimed as they wrapped her in a hug.

“You guys aren’t very good finders,” Izumi said as seriously as a toddler could once their post-game celebration had finished, earning laughs from Sokka and Zuko. 

“I guess we’ll have to keep practicing,” Sokka replied, to which Izumi smiled. 

However, that was promptly interrupted by a large yawn and she snuggled into Zuko’s side.

“Can you tell me the story of how you and daddy met again?” 

“Of course, sweetie,” Zuko replied, giving Sokka an amused eye roll. He had told her the story, the kid-friendly version of course, a week ago to help her to fall asleep, but now it was the only one she asked for. He must’ve told it at least 50 times by now.

“Your dad and Aunt Katara had just found your Uncle Aang in an iceberg near the South Pole. But, you see, I was also looking for him, so I came to their tribe to try and take him back to the Fire Nation with me. They didn’t want me to Uncle Aang, so your dad tried to attack me with his spear, but I broke it in half.”

“That wasn’t very nice of you,” she said with a small pout. 

“I know.” Zuko gave a small laugh as he gently stroked her hair. “I wasn’t a very nice person back then. But then your dad threw his trusty boomerang and hit me right in the back of the head - SMACK!” Zuko clapped his hands together, imitating the sound, which earned a laugh from Izumi and a snicker from his husband beside him.

“However, your Uncle Aang didn’t like fighting, so he offered to come with me.”

“And did he?” Izumi asked, even though she already knew the answer. 

“Nope. Your dad and Aunt Katara came to rescue him from my ‘evil clutches,’” Zuko said dramatically as he tickled Izumi’s sides, resulting in a loud squeal. “And that was how your dad and I first met,” he finished, glancing down at his daughter who was sitting in his lap, curled against his chest and half-asleep.

“Why were you trying to find Uncle Aang anyways?”

Zuko froze, at a loss for words as many of the painful memories came flooding back.

He felt Sokka’s comforting hand on his shoulder, helping ground him in the present. The memories weren’t nearly as bad as they had been, but they were still painful.

“I think that’s a story for another time, when you’re a bit older” Sokka filled in, saving Zuko from having to answer, for which he was thankful. 

Luckily, Izumi seemed to accept the answer, only snuggling deeper into Zuko’s chest as her breaths evened out, signalling she had fallen asleep. 

Even though old, painful memories had just resurfaced, Zuko couldn’t help but smile because he was safe. He was with his family, his _real_ family.

And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not gonna lie, this was pretty hard to write because I literally found out about Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation right before starting on this which completely crushed by mood, but what's a better form of escapism than some cute fluff...
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed because Zuko being good with kids deserves some love and as always, kudos and comments are appreciated :)
> 
> Also, please vote in you're able! I know the election is only a little over a week away, but every vote counts!


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